Mandatory Professional License for Software Designers
Abstract: Given the wide impact and real-time safety concerns of some software applications, it seems reasonable to regulate who will be doing the writing of this critical software. A number of other professions dealing with human safety require their practitioners to be either licensed. At present software professionals are not licensed. However, because software does have far-reaching and potentially disastrous effects, all software designers should also be professionally licensed in some manner.
Would you think twice about flying on a commercial airliner if you knew that anyone straight off the street could apply to pilot the jet you sit on? Would you be worried about going to a doctor who never attended medical school, even though he assures you that he "knows what he's doing"? And think about how you feel while driving next to a tractor-trailer barreling down the highway. Would you be more nervous if you knew that absolutely no training was required to jump behind the wheel of that big-rig?
Now consider how you feel about the fact that the man who wrote the routines to allow you to draw $60 out of your ATM might be some uneducated hacker. The lady who wrote part of the auto-pilot routine for the 747 you fly on might have cheated her way through all of her computer science classes and landed her job without any professional certification. And the software that is supposed to save your new novel to disk could have been written by any nut who happens to know a little C++.
Besides altruistic concerns about public welfare in safety-critical jobs and applications, the threat of lawsuits and an interest in protecting the field's own reputation drives many professions to institute licensing and training programs. The fact is that the airlines do regulate who can fly commercial airplanes. Doctors do have to go to medical school, and even large-truck drivers have certification programs to pass. However, no liscencing is currently required for software developers-even those programming safety-critical applications. Because software has such far-reaching effects and the very real potential to harm when written poorly, software professionals should be licensed as well. This license should ensure that the computing professional has the required body of knowledge and proper ethics to perform his job well.
Part of the issue is that software is somewhat invisible and creeps up in all sorts of places-often as an aid to those in strictly-licensed professions.
In Sir Gawain and The Green Knight, the author shows, in a deeper, fictional descriptive fashion, a look into English life of the late 1300s to the 1400s. Written in an ambiguous undertone, this poem is left for interpretation by the reader. This seemingly unknown author examines the personalities and character traits of Sir Gawain, and other people within the patriarchy by examining them through the different what they did in life, and how they conducted themselves within specific company. Particularly through Sir Gawain, the Pearl Poet examines more than just pride within this text, but bravery, honor, and temptation.
...ere her true allegiance lies. On the other hand, her position in this story provides insight into medieval society. Her antics with Gawain in the bedroom scenes reveal that her position as lady of the house is superior to Gawain’s as a knight. This situation further illuminates medieval gender roles especially when examining the lady’s relationship with her husband. Even if he may use her as a sexual pawn, she is able to assert herself thought the tactics she uses to persuade Gawain to break his oath. She is also intrinsically linked with Morgan le Fay and pagan traditions. This bond is balanced by Gawain’s connection with Mary as a figure for guidance. The wife’s position in this story epitomizes the dualities of medieval society. The conflicting social and gender roles and Christian and pagan traditions are somehow able to operate in this complex society.
In reality, most hackers are ordinary people with a great deal of curiosity, above-average skills with a computer, a good understanding of human nature, and plenty of time to kill. Hackers have no distinguishing characteristics. Your next-door neighbor could be a hacker, as could your niece or nephew, one of your co-workers, or even the kid who serves you coffee in the morning. Not all hackers are dangerous and out to destroy business or damage lives. The view of the general public toward hackers is mixed. A recent CNN-poll shows 33% of respondents labeling hackers as "useful," 17% seeing them "as a menace," and the majority (45%) seeing hackers as "both" useful and a menace (CNN, 1999).
Greer, M. E. (2001, October). 90 Years of Progress in Safety. Professional Safety, 46(10), 20-25. Retrieved April 22, 2014, from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=5367632&site=ehost-live&scope=site
...other, or a matchmaker; she is all four at the same time. This multiplicity in roles, as well as her exertions to manipulate her fellow characters, implicates Nelly in the role of the author, who both occupies the role of all of her characters and manipulates those characters to act as she wishes them to. As a reader, it is easy to dismiss Nelly as merely being a means to an end. It is because of Nelly that we are allowed the opportunity to hear the story of Wuthering Heights, but the narrative certainly does not revolve around her, and nor should it. The author herself should never occupy more space than her story. Yet by performing a meta-analysis on Nelly’s role, we can see the importance of not simply dismissing such a character, because her presence says just as much about the turbulences of passion for love as it does about the passion for a writer’s art.
Jane Eyre has a rough start to her foundation, to begin she is orphaned at a young age. This sets up many problems for the young girl and her fragile identity. The people around worsen the situation as Jane grows. They challenge her patience, integrity, and intelligence. As a female Jane must deal with the caste system of her time as a threat, and as an orphaned child she must deal with the cast system as an obstacle. The family of Reeds that she lives with reminds her everyday of her low position. “She suffers precisely because she knows the value of caste; She may be poor, but she does not want to belong to the poor” (Bell 2). This makes Jane want to thrive more because she realizes the odds against her. Originally, Jane comes from a middle-class family but when her father dies she is left to the pity of the Reeds. The Reeds mistreat Jane and she grows to long the outside world. Jane clearly shows her position when she says, “ It is as natural as that I should love those who show me affection, as submit to punishment when I feel it is deserved”.
Macbeth, a classic tragedy, is perhaps one of the most recognised pieces in english literature by playwright, William Shakespeare. In Macbeth, Shakespeare successfully explores a diverse range of key themes within the play, however, Shakespeare precisely represents power as a divine right with which one should not tamper with, lest disaster ensue. The representation of power clearly reflects the socio-cultural views of the Elizabethan era, and hence, the audience can successfully foreshadow Macbeth’s usurp of the Scottish throne will ultimately lead to his destruction caused by his hubristic actions. Macbeth’s vaulting ambition has lead to his illegitimate power that epitomises additional representations of power as being transitory, easily
And even though these processes ostensibly offer the at-large public a degree of protection due to licensees having attained some minimal amount of competency, recent years have seen a groundswell of interest in deregulation or de-licensing of at least some professions. Moreover, the Council on Licensure, Enforcement and Regulation (CLEAR) in addition to state governmental committee records corroborates de-licensing to have only occurred eight times during the past forty years!
The use of hacking to identify weaknesses in computer security has become an increasingly controversial issue in recent years. Awareness of this issue is important, because our ever increasing reliance on technology means that breaches in computer security have the potential to have wide-ranging and devastating consequences to society, worldwide. This essay will begin by clearly defining the term ‘hacking’ and will examine the type of people who hack and for what reasons. There will then follow a discussion of the moral argument on hacking before examining a few brief examples. The essay will then conclude by arguing against the use of hacking as a means of identifying weaknesses in computer security.
William Shakespeare’s play The Tragedy of Macbeth is a tale set in the middle ages that demonstrates the corruption of political conquest and conspiracy. Macbeth and his wife, Lady Macbeth, commence on a destructive path in pursuit of power and influence. Power within itself hinders a threshold of such an empowering embrace through a mentality manifested by a prideful and egomaniacal person such as Macbeth, considering he was never before in a position of power. While the play unfolds, there are many devices the author demonstrates to describe the applicability Macbeth feels to get a sense of what it’s like to be king. Shakespeare uses literary elements such as rhythm, tone, and imagery to present an image of unveiling bloodlust and abuse of power shown by Macbeth and Lady Macbeth.
References to Beddoes’ hacks (Bisson) evoke resentment among readers; they see that black hat hackers gain more by participating in illicit activities than honest citizens do in a year of work, causing them to feel as if it is unfair to themselves because they are stealing from honest citizens like most readers would be. Also, in emphasizing the damages done by black hat hackers and the mysterious backgrounds they often seem to come from, fuel is added to the fire of an already negative connotation. As the other two articles mention, the common perception of hackers is that they are rebellious teenagers out to destroy the world regardless of the channel used. The background described in this article supports those theories when Beddoes speaks of his past as a teenager who started out with an innocent interest in hacking and then transitions into a rebellious malicious hacker after being rejected by the companies that he was trying to assist. Beddoes’ ethos also supports the goal of the article because he is a credible, well-established hacker in recent years. After almost pulling off a multimillion dollar heist, he is a respected yet accessible authority on the topic. Statistics to quantify the amount of data Beddoes stole in his hacking career provide the base to an argument supported by logos. Referring to those numbers also evokes strong emotions in accordance with the amount of people losing money and being victimized by hackers. Readers are inclined to feel sympathy towards the victims of the hackers, evoking an even greater amount of resentment towards the hackers. The content of Bisson’s article effectively supports a negative reaction to
“When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.” Viktor Frankl. In the eponymous book by Charlotte Brontё, Jane Eyre, even as forces strove to trample out her life, broke free from her cold circumstances, altering her spirit in order to free herself from depression and oppression. First Jane overpowered her bitterness towards her impassive aunt and even yearned for reconciliation between herself and the stubborn old woman. Secondly, through trying times and desperate blunders, Jane reformed her faith as God worked in her heart to truly focus on Him as the loving and caring father He is as opposed to the strict, harsh God presented to her by Mr. Brocklehurst. Finally, Jane’s toppling, swerving feelings
When initially diving into a novel, it is common knowledge that there is an already preconceived agreement of trust that the reader instills in the story’s narrator. The reader virtually always relies on the narrator to illustrate the story in an honest unbiased manner, but the story teller in Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights appears to break the chains of trust understood by the audience. The novel is heard through the keen ears of Mr. Lockwood who is being told the history of the Earnshaws, Heathcliff, and the Linton family by his housekeeper, Ellen Dean. Establishing herself as the primary narrator, Nelly reminisces upon her experiences at Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange. She fails to give Lockwood and ultimately the reader a precise narration of the affairs that took place in the past. Throughout her vivid flashback, Nelly on numerous occasions lessens the impact of her role and participation in certain events to keep her hands clean from the tragedies that more or less ruined those among her presence at Wuthering Heights.
The objectification of women has been a long standing debate since the first leading role in a large cinema screen write. In Laura Mulvey’s essay on “Cinema and Visual Pleasure,” the reader is introduced to various topics within media, but moreso Mulvey’s argument on objectifying women; the idea that hollywood cinema is watched from a male’s perspective, or more formally known as the “male gaze.” While these different theories have come about in several different genres of film, it is much apparent in the classic era of hollywood film and, Alfred Hitchcock's 1958, Vertigo.
Jane Eyre is a revolutionary text that allows us as 21st era readers to reflect back to issues that we are still faced with today. It leaves us to question whether these issues have improved or whether we are still very much a woman of the Victorian era. Whilst it seems odd to relate to someone that lives in a drastically different environment, the challenges that Jane faces have all happened to us. I definitely had a few light bulb moments when I went that’s happened to me, for example being picked on by a teacher or loving someone that we have really no chance with because we are apparently of a “lower standard”. Charlotte Bronte’s novel Jane Eyre challenges us with rich narrative and vocabulary, a style of writing we are not accustomed to, and enables us to learn some history whilst being taken on a journey of a young Victorian woman. Thank you.